Mapping the individual human cortex using multidimensional MRI and unsupervised learning

Histology-based cellular composition and tissue architecture provide the biological basis for the brain’s cytoarchitectonic areas and for characterizing neuropathology. Noninvasive methods to assess cortical cyto- and myeloarchitectonic features are therefore urgently needed. In an ex vivo human brain study, we used multidimensional diffusion-relaxation MRI to investigate changes in spectral signatures with cortical depth. We designed an unsupervised segmentation procedure that captures this information and provides cortical laminar maps, which were co-registered to histological images and compared. The ability to map cortical cytoarchitectonic features noninvasively makes multidimensional MRI a promising tool for studying whole-brain cortical organization.